Rush say reunion has made them “an overnight sensation after 50 years”
Rush vocalist Geddy Lee has joked that his band are “an overnight sensation after 50 years” following the incredible response to their reunion.
The prog-rock legends will be taking to the stage alongside new drummer Anika Nilles for the reunion, who is replacing the late Neil Peart, who died in 2020.
Since first announcing a North American tour in October, Rush twice extended the run of shows due to demand. They were initially only set to play 12 shows in North America, but now have more than 50 dates scheduled in their calendar for the continent.
It’s a similar story for their overseas dates, too. Earlier this week, they confirmed plans for 2027, which will see them visit Argentina, Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, Poland, Italy, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland.
Despite the fact that tickets are yet to go on general sale, they have added a second date at the Co-op Live, Europe’s biggest indoor arena, in Manchester.
Now, in a new interview with Prog, (via Louder), the Canadian rock icons have opened up about the unexpected demand for Rush in 2026.
Guitarist Alex Lifeson said, “The response was kind of overwhelming. I think we expected it would go well – we’re aware of the desire of our fans to see us again. But nothing like what happened.”
Bandmate Lee added, “We thought we’d do a couple of nights here and a couple of nights there. I didn’t think we’d end up doing four shows in each city. That’s never happened to us. We’re an overnight sensation after 50 years.”
He also confirmed that they would be mixing up the setlist regularly, encouraging fans to attend multiple shows, sharing of their rehearsals, “It’s 39 as of yesterday. I’m not going to say what songs they are, but we’re trying to cover as many records as we can and have some variety. We’re playing a lot of the songs that people want to hear, but there are some songs that we haven’t played in a really long time.”
The bassist then clarified, “We’re not playing 39 songs a night, but if you come back the next night, 40 per cent of the songs will be different, and the same the night after that. It’s a cycle of multiple nights, so there’ll be lots of different material.”
On the topic of future new music by Rush, Lee kept his cards close to his chest and said, “Let’s see if we can still stand each other after a year of this.”
See their newly announced 2027 tour dates below.
Rush 2027 world tour dates:
January
- 15 – Buenos Aires, AR – Movistar Arena
- 22 – Curitiba, BR – Arena da Baixada
- 24 – Sao Paulo, BR – Allianz Parque
- 30 – Rio de Janeiro, BR – Estadio Olimpico Nilton Santos (Engenhao)
February
- 01 – Belo Horizonte, BR – Estadio Mineirao
- 04 – Brasilia, BR – Arena BRB
- 19 – Paris, FR – La Defense Arena
- 21 – Berlin, DE – Uber Arena
- 23 – Amsterdam, NL – Ziggo Dome
- 25 – Munich, DE – Olympiahalle
- 28 – Cologne, DE – LANXESS Arena
March
- 02 – Hamburg, DE – Barclays Arena
- 04 – Stuttgart, DE – Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle
- 08 – Glasgow, UK – OVO Hydro
- 12 – Manchester, UK – Co-op Live
- 14 – Manchester, UK – Co-op Live
- 16 – London, UK – O2 Arena
- 18 – London, UK – O2 Arena
- 27 – Krakow, PL – TAURON Arena Krakow
- 30 – Milan, IT – Unipol Dome
April
- 01 – Basel, CH – St. Jakobshalle Basel
- 04 – Copenhagen, DK – Royal Arena
- 06 – Oslo, NO – Unity Arena
- 08 – Stockholm, SE – Avicii Arena
- 10 – Helsinki, FI – Veikkaus Arena
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